Peter stepanofp



P. STEPANOFF. AUTOMATIC POWDER MEASURING DEVICE. APPLICAHON nuau swl. n. ms.

a K J5" 3 w vewtoz Patented J 11116 1.0,. 1919.

STATES PATENT-"OFFICE.

PET R srErANoFr, or PIETROGRAD, Russ a.

CZ ZZ/tU h OWZ it may concern, B e it known that I, PETER STEPANOFF, a

' citiz en;uf the Russian Republic, and resident of. Petrograd, Russia, have made a certaingn'ew anduseful Invention Relating to Automatic Powder-Measuring Devices, of

' whichftliefollowingis a specification, taken I 'inconnectionwith the accompanying drawing, which forms part of the same. V Thisinvention relates especially to autoinatic devices'for measuring powder or other ,granular; or fin'ely divided material and is esp cial y d pted for m su g P w :fchajrges for 'shell'for' ammunition loading.

The powder may be fedlfrom'a suitable V hopper through a series. of feeding funnels Q ordev'i'ces'by which its flow is regulated and the "stream"of powder is delivered through a series of discharge spouts into thej reduced areareceiving throat of each oneof alseries of measurmg chambers, 1f

. desired. Whenthis chamber is filled, the

gstrea n of powder banks up' in the lower V offthe delivery spout to a slight extent until thefother chambers of the series are I filled, andthenthisseries of filled chambers J 5 are'bodily transferred from this flaring .posi

tioninto'a discharging position where the open lower ends come. into line with discharge 11016 111 the table ormember through V which they may allow the charge from eacl'i'oneof these measuring chambers to fall by gravi'tynntothe cartridge case or other receptacle below. This lateral movement of the series "of measuring chambers may be utilized to simultaneously bring another se- I rie sfiof' empty measuring chambers into alinerh'entfwith the delivery spouts so' that theycanbe filled' while the firstseries' is emptying, whereupon a reverse movement;

takes place and thesecondseries of filled chambersfis emptied? It is of course'understood that any desired number of delivery spouts "and related feeding devices maybe connectedwitha single hopper and a correspending number of cartridge cases may be: simultaneously filled and then removed I and replaced by empty "cases before another discharge loccurs through this set of discharge holes: or passages.

In the, accompanying drawing showing in a somewhatdiagramm'atic way an illustra= ti f mbodimentgof this invention,

- I AUTOMATIC POWDER-MEASURING DEVICE.

I V Specification of Letters Patent. Pafefited J 11119 10,1919, Application filed Se tember 17, leis. Serial'No.2*54, 514.

liigure 1 is a transverse vertical section, Fig. 2 .is a partial longitudinal section through the feeding devices.

The hopper 1 may be of any suitable material and construction and may if desired have somewhat inclined sides as, indicated, andinclined or hoppered bottom members, 52 to guide the powder or other. granular material toward the feeding devices. These may comprisea series of superimposed feeding. funnels in which are preferably arranged o neor more suitable distributing devices to regulate the stream of falling material; and-Pmmimize packing thereof. A suitable arrangement. is indicated in the drawing as'comprising the upper or hopper funnel 4 which-may have the cylindrical lower end 54. with whicha cut. off valve or ing devices, and if desired, a distributing funnelsuch as 7 .may be employed and mounted within its supporting socket 6 in V the partition 5 in a somewhat eccentric positiomso as to have an increased distributingaction. The falling. material may thus be deflected against a somewhat curved guide bottom such as,57' so as to belaterally guidedthrough the lateralfeed opening 8 inthis funnel and strike or impinge against the opposite side-pf t e feeding device below, .suchfor instance as the delivery'funnel 11. This delivery funnel may be supported and if desired rigidly secured to the supportingsocket 58 mounted in the lower support 56 wh ich may be connected, as by the members"55 with the hopper. bottom 53. The delivery funnel may be provided with a delivery spout such as 12 which may have a substantially cylindrical form and be pro-.

vided in each'case with an adjustablesleeve 13 sufliciently tight thereon to! retain its position when manuallyadjusted from time totime. l i

. It'is soinetimes desirable'to -promote the ment of these agitator devices. Although it is not necessary in all cases, it'is sometimes desirable to have suitable control valves or members arranged within'the {superimposed funnels so that the rate of flow through, one or more of the tunnels of each series can be suitably regulated. For this purpose a control valve or bell 31 may besupported within the delivery funnel ll'by mounting the same'on a depending stem 32 which maybe carried upthroughthe deliveryhopper: and

supported in a' guide '33 on thetransverse brace 34by tightening the adjusting nut or V set screwj42 which clam" sthe control valve gne orfmore of the" other funnels may have similar control valves 7 3C or devices, suchas the valve 35 which coopin adjusted positiom erates with'the' distributing funnel 1'7v and may be mounted on the tubular stem" 36 supportedinlthe guide 37 by the set screw 43 The valve 38 may, if desired, cooperate with the hopper funnel 4 and be mounted on a similar tubular stem 39.. and supported in the guide member '40 by the 'thurnbscrew or adjusting nut 44. Thiscon'trol valve may ofcourse act as a cutoff Valve for the hopper funnel when it is lowered intosub-stantial contact with the funnel'so as to prevent further discharge therethrough. r Two series ofmeasuring chambers of any suitable form and construction are prefer-.-

V ably provided, one for each delivery spout and are mounted in-supporting and'guiding devices, so as to be {removable with -respect thereto and effect the alternate transfer of. each measuring chamber from its filling position beneath the delivery' spout toits dischargingposition in alinement with a; discharge hole or passage communicating with a cartridge case for instance. Asuit able arrangement is indicated inFigl as comprising two such, measuring chambers 16 which may be removably mounted in chamber sockets69, formed, if desired, in the tray 19. secured to the supporting guides 49. 7 These guides may move over the table 20 between suitable stops such as 59, for example, so thateach of the; chambers is accuratelytransferred from its filling positionbeneath its. delivery spout l2'*to its discharge position above one of the dis-o charge holes 22 or 23. 7 o

chambers, may, a if desired, be. ofthe double These measurin portion 17' may have an open end and be so V shaped as toinsurecomplete delivery of material from the chamber so as to discharge conical" form indicated, the upper conical portion 1 6 fitting within the chamber socket '69 and being held in'position as ,a-clamp 18 -and bolts or screws 48. The lowerconical all the material therefrom. through'one of I the'discharge -holes, a rim flange 51 being provided if desired, at the lower end ofsthe chamber so as, to give better sliding contact v with respect tothe table 20 on whicha rim f 21- may be arranged if desired, These chain bers may of course be interchangeable and considerable differences in] the powder charges or other'amounts of material meas ured may betaken care of by-rep'lacing one u I set of these measuring chambers with another of different shape and ca pacity. I t Qis al's q; desirable tohave each of thechambers adjustable to some extent at least, and this may be conveniently effected byarr'anging anf adjusting sleevesuch; as "14'' in, frictional throat :15 of the ichalnber so that bjfvertiv engagement withfthereducedareareceiying y J dj i jtinsithi s ew ic r s pb sli ghtg iadj ustm'e'nt in the chamber" capacity v is secured Under these circumstances the discharge "s out "is-jot course: adj usted to .a corresponding extent, preferably so] as to" leave a considerable sp'acesuch'as Ione tenth -adjusting sleeveillgbnlthe' corresponding of'an inch areior, less, between these c'o6p-' j erating' sleeves;the'thi'ckness or which course exaggerated in the drawing 5::

The cartridge l cases: or" other receptacles 1 I 1 i may be'supportedin any suitable way'j-be neath the. table 20which may be mounted on 1 legs such as"3Q.i Ifdesired, the 'numberof cartridge cases, 24. which: can be simultaneously filled by the} series ofemptying ;meas-.

uring chambers may bemounted ona single 7 transfer blockp25' and held. in a cover '28 by means 'of the hooks'or clamps 1 cases may then bep-ushed along on;the .supporting devicesfsuch asf the seriesfoff sup? 7 27, for instance. This mock-er cartridge porting-Trolls 26,5mo1ihted'in the bearings29f until the eartridgecasescome into alinemenr; f

with the series of discharge holes 22, ,for-in f stance, then when the-series of'gmeasuringi chambers beneath the delivery: spouts have" beenrfilled u'p tosay-about the pointsindicated in Fig -1 thetrayisfmovediinthe di p rection ofthe arrow carrying both-isetsof chambers so that this filled set bfchambers is brought overthe dischargefholes -22Zand 1' i quickly emptied intoxthe series of cartridge case 24 below. :Thislmovement'also?bringsj the empty series-of measuringchambers be- 7 neaththe deliveryspouts12 sothat-theygare thus brought into filling position. {The slightfl accumulation "of powder :orother ma- :terial within the delivery; spouts above the upper endsl'ofctheqreceivi ng throatslofi the filledaimeasurin-g':chambers naturally falls off into the tray 19 together with what little material falls from :the spout during the repeated transfer movement of the measurlng lchambersyt his material beingof course reimovedlfrom the tray continuously or inter- *mittently 'byany suitable means such as diswith; this exactness:

' charge passages'orhose connections so'that 7 it may be returnedto the hop-per or other- ;1 wise disposed of; For measuring'ordinary grades-of smokeless powder such as'is used for the propelling charges of three inch shrapnel or similar shell, this measuring device gives very satisfactory results and on A'su'c'h charges theaverage variations under goodservice conditions need not be more th'an about one or two tenths of one per cent. of the weight of the powder charge, With oneof these measuring devices having-five delivery spoutsasingle workman can meas ure out about one thousandcharges per hour I Thisinventionhas been'described in confn'ection with 'a number of illustrative emv bod1ments,"forms, proportions, parts, materials and 'arrangements, and methods of use,

-2tc thedetai1-s-cf which disclosure the invention is notof course to be'hmited, since what claimed as n'ew -and what is desired to'jbe secured by LettersPatent is set forth in the pp nded claimsl lclaima In powdermeasuring-devices, a series 'ofdelivery' spouts and cooperating feeding devices, adjusting sleeves on each of said delivery" spouts, twoseries of measuring cham- '7 I b'ers'each formed with an open bottom and with" a reduced area receiving throat and an adjustable sleeve mounted thereon to coop- 1 erate with the corresponding delivery spout, a' tabIe below said delivery spouts and formed with discharge holes on each side of said: deliveryspouts, means to support a-seriesof'receptacles below saiddischarge holes and -a support carrying said measuring "chambersf'and movably' mounted on said tablefto transfer one series of filled'measur- -ing chambers from their receiving position beneath said delivery spouts to their disnar e osiuon above said discharge holes and simultaneously:transfer the other series of measuring chambersto their filling position;

2;.In powder measuring devices, a series 7 I ofidelivery spouts, ad usting sleeves on each ofsaid delivery spouts, two. ser1es of measuring chambers each formed with an open bottom and ,with a reduced area receiving throat-"and an' adjustable sleeve mounted beneath-said delivery'spouts to their discharge position and simultaneously transfer the other series of measuring chambers to their filling position; Y Z

'"3."In' powder measuring devices,'a series of delivery spouts, two series of measuring chambers each formed with an open bottom and-with a reduced area receiving throat to cooperate with the corresponding delivery spout, means to adjust the capacity of said measuring chambers, a table below said delivery spouts and a support carrying said measuring chambers and movably mounted onsai'd table to transfer one series of filled measuring chambers from their receiving positionbeneath said delivery spouts to their discharge position and simultaneouslytransfer the other series of measuring chambers to 'their'filling position. 431m powder measuring devices, a series of delivery spouts, adjusting sleeves on each of said delivery spouts, two series of measuring chambers each formed with a reduced area receiving throat and an adjustable sleeve mounted thereon to cooperate with the corresponding delivery spout, and a movable support carrying said measuring chambers to transfer one series" of filled measuring chambers'from their receivingjbo- 'sition beneath said" delivery spouts to their discharge position and simultaneously transfer the other series' of measuring chambers 'to' theirfilling p osition.

5'.*In""measuring devices, a series of delivery spouts, adjusting sleeves on each of said delivery spouts, and measuringchambers eachformed witlta reduced area receiving throat an 'adjustableflsleeve mounted thereon to cooperate with the corresponding delivery'spout." 1

6. In powder measuring devices, a hopper and a communicating"series of delivery spoutsja' movablesupport mounted below said delivery spoutmfa'tray and two' series of measuring chambers mounted on said support, each measuring Ichamber'fbeing formed with a reduced area receiving throat tocooperate Withjthe corresponding de livery spout, a' table on vhichsaid support and chambers are mounted and l formed on each'side of said deliveryspoutswith dis,- chargeholes into which said measuring chambers are adaptedto discharge and means to support a series. of' 'cartridge cases or receptacles adjacent said discharge holes. In measuring devices, a hopper and a communicating delivery spout, a movable support mountedbelow said delivery spout, two measuring c'hambersfmounted on said support, each measuring chamber being QfQi'med with a reduced area receiving throat tocooperate with the corresponding delivery spout, a table on which said support and chambers are mounted and dis-charge holes into which said measuring chambers charge holes,

are adapted to discharge and means'to sup' port a seriesof receptacles adjacent said dis- 8. In measuring devices, a-lhojpiper and a communicating delivery spout, a movable support mounted below said delivery spout va measuring chamber mounted onsaid support to cooperate with the corresponding delivery spout and a table on whichsaid sup port and chamber are mounted. I

9. In powder measuring devices, a .delivery spout, an-iadjusting sleeve on said delivery spout, a movable -support mounted below said delivery spout, two measuring chambers mounted on said supportand each 1 formed with a reduced area receiving throat and an adjustable sleeve mounted thereon to cooperate with said delivery spout, and

means to support a series of receptacles to receive the material from said measuring chambers, v

10. In powder measuring devices, a delivery spout, an adjusting sleeve on said deliveryspout, a movable support'mounted below said deliveryspout, a measuring chamber mounted on said support andformed with a reduced area receiving throat. and an adjustable sleeve mounted thereon to cooperate with said delivery spout, and means to support a series of receptacles to receive thematerlal from, said measuring chamber.

.711. In powder measuring dev- 1ces,a delivery spout, a movable support mojunted below said delivery spout, a measur1ng chamber mounted .on said supportv and formed with a reduced area receivingthroat an intermediate distributing funnel having a curved guide bottom and a laterally ar-' ranged feed opening, aseries of separately to cooperate with said delivery spout, means to adjust the capacity of said measuring chamber, and means to support a series of receptacles to receive the material from said measuring chamber.

l2.' In powder measuring devices, a hopper, a delivery spout communicating with said hopper, a movable measuring chamber 7 having a reduced area receiving throat adapted to cooperate with said delivery spout in the filling position of the chamber and having a discharge opening at the lower end of the chamber adapted to cooperate with a discharge aperture in the discharge position of'the chamber, a series of superimposed feeding funnels arranged between said hopper and said delivery spout and comprising a hopper funnel and-a delivery funnel connected to said delivery spout and adjustable control valves arranged in said Copies oif this patent may beoottained for 1 sea-.447

funnels to regulate" the fiow .io fjeinaterial therethrough and agitator rolls adjacent the said hopper, a vmeasur ingchamber adapted toacooperate with saiddelivery spout .in-the ifilli'ng ofthe chamber, a series ofsuperimrecelving-olpening of said hopper funnel. 1 18. In: powder measuring devices, a h opo per, adelivery spo'utcommuni'ca-ting with, g

posed feeding funnels arrangedbetweenrsaid l" I hopper and said delivery spout. and: comf f pris ng a' hopperfunnel and a delivery, funnel connected tosaid ,delivery' spout and an hopper funnel and. a delivery funnel V eonf ect clto S id deliveryspout and an inter 'fl mediate distributing funnel having: a curved guide bottoml anda laterallyarranged feed openingand'anadjustable controlvalve 1311'? ranged in said funnels; to regulate the flow jof'material therethrough. i 15. Inpowd'er measuring devices,.a hop-f per, a delivery spout communicating with said hopper, a series of superimposed feed-- ing funnelsfarranged'between said. hopper and; said deliveryfspoutand comprising; an

intermediate distributing funnel having ,a

zcurved guide bottom and alaterallyl arranged @feedopening to regulate the flowfof material therethrOugh, I 16. In ,powderrmeasuring :per, a delivery vspout communicating with mg funnels arranged, between; said hopper andsaid deli-very spout "and comprisingja hopper iunnel and. a delivery funnel" connected'to said delivery spout,and a series of-material therethrough. f

, lnmeasuringw devices, ahopperpade livery spout communicating with said. hop-- per, a ser es of communicatingfeeding funnels arranged between said hopper and said delivery spout andrcomprising a series of V separately adjustable control valves 31' ranged adjacent said funnels to regulatefthe flow oi} material therethrough;

.devices, a hop'-. [Q 7 I 7 7 M a pp a se il of o mu c g f d- 1'05 of separately adjustable control valves ar- [rangedin said funnels to regulate the flow,

PETER STEPANQFF; i

five cents each, addressing "the commissioner. of Patents," washingtomllaff 1 I 

